


Kiss you where it's sore

by girlwithabird42



Series: Once more for the ages [7]
Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Forced Proximity, Healing, Kissing in the Rain, Sharing a Bed, Wedding Night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-10-11 18:37:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20550830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlwithabird42/pseuds/girlwithabird42
Summary: Nate and Elena intimately together (or not) over the years





	Kiss you where it's sore

It’s been quite the past twelve hours and there’s about a million things Elena should be worrying about, but she can only focus on one: how intimately close Nathan Drake is standing near her, _holding_ her.

In spite of the danger, she’s still mad at him. Failing to get the right paperwork, leading them into pirate-infested waters, leaving her on the dock – Nate completely deserved to get decked in the face. But Elena’s heart is hammering loudly in her chest and it only halfway has to do with the men chasing them with guns.

It’s kind of ridiculous Nate hasn’t noticed. Elena keeps her arms as close as possible as his secure her further. It’s not uncomfortable but even the trace feeling of his chest through his shirt is flustering her somewhat.

Then it gets worse.

As the final mercenaries run past their hiding place, Nate’s pelvis starts to press against hers and Elena can’t take it anymore; her heart jackhammering so hard he has to know what’s happening.

She’s reminded of all the guys on the reality show, who knew they were cute, and the producers going on about forced proximity.

The difference is Elena is actually curious about what it would be like to kiss Nathan Drake, to explore what’s beneath the layers of jungle-filthy clothes, almost as curious as she was about a sixteenth-century explorer’s grave.

Maybe she’s getting carried away, but it felt like he might be interested too.

When the danger’s past, Nate looks down at Elena and she’s momentarily stunned before she snaps out of it. Nothing on his face betrays any urge in the moment.

At least one of them has their head in the game, she thinks to herself.

\----------

Mayan temples aren’t some gold god statue hell-bent on curing anyone who claims it, but Elena’s sure she’s getting something good out of her footage and on the fly research.

Nate occasionally helps her with the camera, but mostly does the driving while she furiously takes notes in the rental jeep and climbs off to god knows where while she’s taking panoramas. Sometimes Elena attempts to follow him and although she’s less sure of her grip, when she even gets halfway as far as him, she’s sure those shots will make it in the final episode.

The afternoon sky slowly fills with dark clouds as they reach the top of a pyramid. Elena’s looking out for miles while Nate wanders off, no doubt distracted by some pawnable trinket.

At the first roll of thunder, Elena doesn’t switch the camera off, but she does start scanning for signs of Nate. She spots him far away and waves. He waves back. Elena resumes, unconcerned until a white lightning bolt cuts across the pitch-black sky, but it’s Nate suddenly at her side that startles her more.

“We gotta get back to the car,” he tugs on her arm, just as the sky opens up and sheets of rain come pouring down.

They manage to run most of the way down but when they reach a gap in the stonework, Nate leaps ahead.

“Jump!” he yells over the torrents of rain. “I’ll catch you!”

His knees don’t buckle when Elena lands in his arms, but they do both slip a bit in the mud. By the time they make it back to the jeep, they’re both completely soaked through.

The rear doors are closer; Elena throws the camera and then herself in; Nate slams the door behind him, water hammering hard on the roof.

Elena pushes her wet hair out of her face. “Woo, that was something!” Quickly inspecting the camera, “Looks like it still works, thank god. One less earful from the boss. Nate?”

She turns around, realizing he isn’t being his usual cocky self. In fact, his arms are folded across his chest and his teeth are chattering.

“Really?” Elena chuckles. “A little summer rain and you’re freezing?”

“Why do you think I live in Florida?”

“You _so_ wouldn’t cut it at my parents’ in Colorado,” she grins.

That’s when she notices despite his folded arms, the wet shirt’s provided quite the eyeful.

Casting a quick glance down, her soaked tank top leaves nothing to the imagination. Not that Nate hasn’t seen it all a few times already.

“Would you like a fun way to warm up?” Elena raises her eyebrow suggestively. Some of Nate’s surliness starts to melt away.

He spreads out across the backseat and she sprawls across him. Her tank top bunches up a little uncomfortably on her stomach, pulling some of Nate’s shirt with it. Despite his protests, his skin is almost hot against hers and she relishes it.

“I’ve never done this before,” Elena confesses after a deep kiss.

Nate laughs, “Sex in the back of a car?”

She swats lightly at his arm. “Rain-soaked makeouts worthy of Ryan and Rachel.”

“I don’t know who those people are, but I could stand to do this a few more times. Totally worth freezing my ass off.”

“It _is_ a good ass,” Elena shakes her head in agreement.

“Thanks for noticing,” he says, wriggling awkwardly out of his shirt and Elena greedily can’t stop staring at his pecs. She hasn’t even finished rolling her top off before his mouth is on her breast.

They stay there until the storm has passed.

\----------

Tenzin and his family did a hell of a job patching them both up but there’s still a lot of recovery when they get back and shoddy lies to doctors who know the work of a bullet and shrapnel when they see it.

Nate’s doctor tells him the same thing Elena’s told her as Nate pulls his shirt back over his head.

“Just no heavy exertion for a while.”

Doctor code for no sex.

Nate would call it strange – although not the bad kind – not only being back with Elena, but living with her, full time. It’s not waking up after a hookup, then going weeks without seeing each other, but the day in and day out mundane he’s adjusting to.

He’s particularly taken with the odd angles Elena manages to contort herself into in his arms overnight. Most of the time it’s cute, but tonight she’s putting an unbearable amount of pressure on his gut.

As carefully as he can, Nate pulls his trapped arm out from under her and slips out of bed, into the harsh light of the bathroom. He yanks his t-shirt off to see if there’s any further damage to the wound.

Nate’s tried not to look at the gunshot wound more than necessary, but in the bright light, he can’t look away. It’s still so red and the shots sound like they did yesterday in his head except now it’s in the hum of the lightbulbs and –

He turns away quickly to face the darkened bedroom and the buzzing in his head goes away as quickly as it came. Eyes adjusting to the dark, Nate can see Elena’s shifted. She’s awake.

“Hey,” she murmurs. “How’re you feeling?”

“Uh, definitely been better,” he chuckles weakly as he hits the bathroom lights. The only thing illuminating them now is the moon. “How about you?”

Elena sighs, “One of these days it’ll stop hurting, right?”

“I could kiss it and make it better,” Nate teases as he climbs onto the bed face-to-face with her.

“You sure about that, cowboy?”

“Can’t hurt to try.”

Elena unbuttons her shirt, shrugging it off a little more awkwardly than she used to. Nate could swear her skin was glowing, but starts with a kiss to the shadowed side of her neck, trailing down her collarbone. When he nears the worst of the scarring, just on the underside of her breast, Nate feels the shudder run down her whole body.

“Sorry, did that hurt?”

“No, it’s –” Elena laughs a little. “This no sex thing completely sucks.”

Nate kisses the same spot, lingering as she shivers again. “Tell me about it.”

“There _are_ workarounds,” she murmurs, taking his hand in hers and placing it very, very low on her bare pelvis.

Nate requires no further prompting, slipping his palm down her underpants. He’s distracted enough when she’s arching into him, he doesn’t notice the ache in his abdomen.

“Okay,” she pants. “Your turn.”

Elena matches Nate’s earlier technique of snaking kisses down his chest. He wants to suck in his abdomen when she reaches the wound, but she didn’t shy away and neither will he.

Nate could even swear in the moment, Elena does make it feel better, but it’s lost when her hand curls around him.

When they’re both spent, the throbbing comes back with a vengeance; he’s sure it does for Elena too, but it doesn’t matter. It means they’re here and they’re _alive_.

\----------

Jim and Patricia treat them to dinner at their news, ecstatic at least for Elena, if still tepid on Nate as a boyfriend, much less a husband for their daughter.

Yes, proposing was impulsive, but Elena made no comment on the lack of ring, so Nate isn’t worried about it. At the moment, it’s the least worried he’s ever been about anything he’s dove into headfirst.

What does make him uncomfortable is the prolonged stay in Elena’s childhood bedroom. It’s not the sharing of her old twin bed, though that’s certainly tight, but the oppressive sense of normalcy.

Nate’s never been anywhere long enough to hang up old pictures – not that he has any – or posters from events and accomplishments. Where would he get a poster of El Dorado anyway?

Nate lies there with his hands folded on his chest, absently staring at a photo of teenaged Elena when her very real adult counterpart walks in, finishing drying her hair.

Nate can’t help it; he breaks out into a grin. Elena’s face is still somewhat pink from the shower so Nate can’t tell if she flushes with her grin in turn.

Unceremoniously throwing the towel on the floor, Elena climbs on top of him, chest to chest. Nate fingers a damp lock of hair as he watches her slip Drake’s ring onto her finger.

“It’s a bit big,” she says.

“We could get it resized.”

She frowns a little before giggling. “You really weren’t planning on proposing when we woke up this morning, were you?”

“What can I say? I was caught up in the moment. You love that about me.”

“I do,” she admits, taking the ring off. “I _was_ surprised.”

Nate grins and if she guesses what he’s about to do, she’s not fast enough to act on it. He takes her up in his arms and flips them over. Elena lets out a yelp of surprise which he quiets with a kiss. Really, the last thing he wants is to tip her parents off to what they _might_ be doing.

Elena’s legs are wrapped around him and Nate could swear he hasn’t gotten a hard-on faster since he was a teenager. He’s fairly useless getting his shirt over his head and it’s only when Elena’s helped him get it off he realizes what he still needs.

“Condom,” he mumbles stupidly, straining to break her hold, lunging for his suitcase.

“Forget it,” she gasps, fingernails digging into his bare skin. “S’what pill’s for.”

Nate doesn’t need to be told twice, diving back into it. Everything’s happening so fast, he doesn’t hear it at first.

_Creak_, thunk. _Creak_, thunk.

Oh _shit_.

There’s no way in hell either of them are going to stop now though.

In the bright light of day, Nate steadfastly refuses to look at the Fishers over breakfast. Then again, he’s pretty sure they’re not looking at him and Elena either.

\----------

All-in-all, the party goes well. It’s more champagne than Nate’s ever had in his life and it goes to his head. The lights at the venue seem to twinkle brighter, but nothing outshines Elena.

Looking at her, Nate’s heart is so full, he’s afraid it might burst. Sometimes he catches sight of her talking and laughing with her friends and family, but by some magnetism, whenever Nate’s eyes search for hers, she finds him too.

Towards the end of the party, Nate feels a hand clap him on the back of his shoulders.

“You did good, kid,” Sully says, raising his cigar in salute.

Nate’s sure this is the happiest he’s ever been.

When they make it back to the hotel, Nate scoops Elena and her voluminous dress up into his arms. She yelps in surprise, surely waking up everyone else on the floor.

“Gotta carry you over the threshold,” he says as he fumbles with the keycard one-handed.

“Yeah, at home,” Elena giggles, clearly enjoying herself anyway.

“So we’ll do it again when we get back to your apartment,” he says as the door swings open.

“_Our_ apartment,” she gently corrects him.

“Of course, Mrs. Drake,” he teases her with a grin.

Elena rolls her eyes, but kisses him first. “You like the new name, Mr. Fisher?”

She said on no uncertain terms several days after immediately blurting out ‘yes’ that she wouldn’t be changing her name. Nate joked he could change his name and she laughed, unaware he can shed names like snakeskin.

Elena has a different type of shedding in mind though. When Nate puts her down, she immediately goes for his shirt buttons that didn’t come undone when he ditched the tie at the reception.

“Hey, I’ve got a head start, why don’t we work on you?” he offers.

His knees almost buckled, seeing her come down the aisle, but Nate would tell her she looks as beautiful in this dress as she does in the old college t-shirts she wears to bed. And at least those don’t have a hundred buttons running down the back.

“Jesus,” Nate mutters. “If I had any more to drink, you’d be stuck in this all night.”

Elena laughs and Nate bends over to kiss her exposed shoulder. She shivers at his touch, making getting the final buttons undone all the more difficult. The dress finally falls, pooling into a huge puddle of white at their feet, except Elena still somehow has more on underneath.

“How were you not dying?” Nate asks, unable to tear his eyes off the corset and underwear.

“Oh, I completely am, but it’s worth your face now,” Elena grins. “You like it?”

Nate’s mouth is dry, “I mean, yeah.”

“Good.”

It takes her significantly less time to finish undressing him and Nate’s getting impatient, scooping Elena up by the ass. She manages to wriggle out of her underwear before hooking her legs around his waist and he presses her back to the wall for support.

Nate’s working on her with his hands and Elena hisses a ‘damn it’ that doesn’t really sound like one accompanying a rising climax.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s this stupid –” she glances down at the only thing preventing skin-to-skin contact.

“Then don’t hate me for this,” Nate warns and tears at the thin ribbon holding the corset together in the front.

“Do you know how expensive that was?” Elena laughs, clearly relieved to be free of it, just as Nate’s relieved to see all of her now.

“Shoulda used sturdier material,” he mumbles, going back at it. It takes next to nothing to get her to come after that.

“Bed now,” Elena breathes when she stops shuddering.

“Calling it quits already?”

“Not even a little bit, cowboy,” she pushes him backwards until he falls on the admittedly _really_ nice suite bed. He gets comfortable and then so does she.

Later, Nate’s sure there’s nothing left in him as Elena flops over beside him. He could sleep for a million years but he doesn’t want to.

Elena’s hand moves to brush her hair out of her face and something glints in the light, like a long forgotten treasure tucked in a dark corner. Her wedding ring.

Nate glances at his. He’s seen them on other people, sure, but it wasn’t until a few months ago he wanted it so badly and when Nathan Drake wants, well…

“What are you thinking about?”

Nate turns his head to the side to look at Elena.

“How much I love you, Ms. Fisher.”

She smiles. “I love you too, Mr. Drake.”

\----------

A hand shakes Nate awake. He feels worse than when dragged himself out of the sea.

“We need to get some actual sleep,” Elena murmurs. “If we want to be able to pull off saving Sully.”

“Yeah,” Nate says. He thought he _was_ getting actual sleep. His eyelids start to droop again.

“Nate,” Elena says a little sharper. “My legs are asleep.”

Nate’s eyes fly open, “Sorry.” He tries to get himself up, but he’s stiff and smells like bilge water. “I think I need a hand up. And a shower.”

Elena shimmies out from under him and Nate really tries to not put all his weight on her, but it’s difficult. They get him to the shower, where he stands, fully clothed. Nate’s frozen for a moment and almost mechanically, Elena starts to undress him. His ring-free hand stops hers.

For the first time in their relationship, Nate’s ashamed. Maybe that’s part of the problem, but he can’t be thinking about that right now.

“I got it from here, Elena.”

“Okay.”

He hisses when only cold water dribbles out of the showerhead, nowhere near soothing as he’d like, but at least he doesn’t smell like a sailor’s armpit anymore.

Elena’s already in the bed when he emerges in only a towel, taking a passing glance before rolling over, her back to him.

Dressed again, Nate follows suit, his back to hers, but his muscles are already relaxing from their shared warmth.

“I thought this was frowned on,” he wearily jokes again.

Elena snorts, “We _are_ married.”

Nate glances at his bare finger. His last thought before he drifts off is wondering where his ring got to.

He sleeps like the dead.

\----------

If Nate wasn’t present during dinner or listening to her talk about the article, Elena knows he is now, the way he’s looking at her. It’s been a few weeks – closer to a month really, and Elena’s going to seize his improved mood for all it’s worth.

Lower lip still partially caught between his, Elena teases, “Right here on the couch, huh? Is this college?”

“You tell me,” Nate laughs softly, but stops going for her jeans zipper.

“I’m not saying no, just there are more age-appropriate places for us to have sex.”

“Are you saying I’m old?” he asks with mock indignance.

Elena runs her fingers through his newly-greying temples. “Maybe just a little.”

Neither of them are shy about stripping down in front of each other; Elena rushes even, afraid to lose the moment to another month.

Tossing herself down on the bed, “I’m right here, cowboy.”

He picks up where they left off downstairs and when he pulls her close for a kiss, tendrils of hair fall loose. Finally, _finally_, he puts his mouth to the inside of her thigh, then moves upwards.

Elena’s getting close to climaxing, but even in her haze, she senses something’s off. Digging her nails into Nate’s shoulders, she manages “You gonna join me?”

His head emerges from between her legs, but when he shifts upwards, it’s apparent he’s nowhere near ready.

Arousal mixes uncomfortably with guilt in the pit of her stomach, “Let me help you out.”

Nate’s face twists in frustration, but lets out a sigh, “Alright.”

Straddling him, it takes longer than usual to get him up and neither of them come in sync, but they get there eventually.

Nate doesn’t say anything in the aftermath, but Elena can see the fine frown lines on his forehead. She settles against him, gently stroking his chest until they’re both asleep.

The dim early dawn light filters through Elena’s eyelids as she feels the ghost of Nate’s kiss on her cheek and the covers are pulled over her bare shoulder. She murmurs ‘goodbye’, but the bedroom door’s already closed.

The next time Elena sees Nate, he’s smiling and burning with an energy he hasn’t had, if she’s honest, in years. Even if it’s only Jameson’s permits, she’s happy he’s happy too.

\----------

The _thunk_ at her back tells Elena she’s not dead yet and she can feel the heat of Nate’s body over her, shielding her from the last of the falling rubble.

How stupidly chivalrous of him.

The quickly ebbing adrenaline tells Elena to do something kind of mean. Playing dead is a bit of payback sure, but Nate also might find it funny later, provided they actually get off Libertalia.

Elena promised herself she’d save Nate at least, nothing beyond that. She couldn’t just leave him to die. After all this, she’d tell him she couldn’t live like this anymore and they’d get a divorce.

Elena can be stupid herself sometimes too.

While she’d been trying to keep her distance across the island, Nate seemed terrified to touch her, even as he clumsily poured his heart out.

She forgives him, of course.

While ‘divorce’ still whispers at the back of her mind, it’s hard not to want to stay where they are now: bloodied, sweaty, muddy – and holding each other. Their inhibitions seemingly still caught in that net.

Nate’s rough skin skims gently over hers and all Elena can think about is having him on this wet cave floor as she kisses him. Rolling her hips against his, their hearts beat together; Elena feels it in her bones.

In the distance, a rolling boom also shakes her bones and snaps her out of it and Nate instinctively mutters his brother’s name.

Elena has to get used to sharing – no. She _was_ sharing Nate all along.

They run into the sunlight together.

\----------

There’s some discussion, but Nate and Elena agree to postpone anything until after the season shoot. Things are already hectic enough getting the boat to Australia and making sure Cassie’s all set with her teachers to finish the school year early. Their twenty-fifth anniversary can wait.

So it’s a surprise when finishing for the day, the crew starts commenting on seeing them in two days.

“We’re not done processing these artifacts!” Nate protests.

“And I’d kind of like to redo some footage,” Elena nods.

But everyone’s got wicked grins on their faces and Nate catches sight of Cassie, her grin widest of them all.

“What did you do?” Nate sighs, only partially exasperated with his teenage daughter.

“Nothing! Just made some calls, texted a few people.”

“And by people you mean,” Elena gestures for her to continue.

“Sam got you a hotel on the beach; Sully put in a reservation at a restaurant,” Cassie blurts out. “Sam says you’re not allowed to touch the minibar though because he’s paying for real drink service.”

It’s ridiculous their family is more interested in their wedding anniversary than they are.

Nate tugs at his ear, “We should have done something for our actual twenty-fifth three years ago.”

Elena punches his shoulder, “What and ruin this one’s thirteenth birthday?”

Cassie plugs her ears, “I don’t want to hear about your gross stuff!”

There’s no way she remembers walking in on them as a toddler. But Nate, for one, has the embarrassment burned into his brain.

“Actually,” Nate puts up a finger, “Is your uncle paying for a room for _you_? Because you can’t stay here alone.”

“I’m staying with Chloe and Nadine. They offered,” Cassie says matter-of-factly. “I should text them right now to let them know you know.”

Nate turns around and whispers out loud, “Jesus Christ, what a production.”

Elena takes a step back to look at him. “Oh, we aren’t going to enjoy a hell of a day off?”

“I know,” Nate hisses, “I just don’t want her to get any ideas about conspiring behind our backs.”

Elena laughs so hard, Cassie knows she’s not in trouble.

The hotel is _gorgeous_, frankly, way out of his brother’s price range, but Nate’s enjoying the near-private beach and seemingly unending food and drink.

“At this rate I’m not going to have room for dinner,” he moans. Age has only meant a harder time keeping off weight after all the excellent food they have abroad.

Elena reaches over and playfully jiggles his stomach, “We’ll manage.”

“Oh really? Two can play at this.” Nate reaches for her backside. Not that she wasn’t already perfect, but he loves that her hips have gotten wider and her ass has gotten bigger since Cassie.

Elena laughs.

As usual though, Elena is correct that they have room for dinner on Sully, but Nate insists on an evening stroll back at the beach to ‘work it off’.

Elena’s head rests against his shoulder, Nate loves the feel of her fingers running over the words inked on his arm.

Glancing down at her, “I hope Cassie isn’t giving Chloe and Nadine too much trouble.

Elena snorts, “Of course she is. She’s your daughter.”

Speaking of trouble, there hasn’t been nearly enough tonight. Without further comment, Nate starts unbuttoning his shirt and pulling his pants down.

“What are you doing?” Elena laughs, torn between amusement and concern.

“Skinny dipping. It’s been a bit for us, right?”

Elena requires no further prompting, slipping out of her sundress with ease and plunging into the ocean before him, swimming in the moonlight like the most tantalizing siren.

Finally catching up to her, Nate pulls her close, her hips perfectly fitted to his.

He kisses her. “Happy anniversary.”

“Twenty-five years,” Elena breathes. “Ready for the next twenty-five, cowboy?”

“Yeah. Let’s see where we’ll go.”

**Author's Note:**

> These fools are always horny on main.


End file.
